If any one of you have seen or know the great anime titled Fullmetal Alchemist, then you most probably have already heard about the principle mentioned in the title.
People cannot gain anything without sacrificing something. You must present something of equal value to gain something. That is the principle of equivalent trade in alchemy.
Alphonse Elric
But if you watched the whole series or at least have seen the movie (Conqueror of Shambala) then you should know that this principle proved to be false – there are nice demonstrations of this by Dante or Hohenheim.
And i think it’s not working in our world either. If you look at any field of life, you can first have the impression that the principle applies, but as you delve further in, you’ll probably see that there are some things that cannot be explained that way, and that those are the things that give life the real taste. Both bad and good.
(Oh, and new avatar in use…)